Selected from "The Literary View of Remnant Snow" published by Guangxi Normal University in 2007 In the past 30 years, I have been doing experiments in experimental literature with no way out, and the creative materials are taken from the depths of the human soul and belong to the level of spiritual exploration.
In an age of materialism and spiritual abandonment, those who consistently care for the life of the soul are prophets of the times, consciously aware that the obligations they have are what nature expects of us. Whether you're writing or reading, it's all about unique innovation.
I think the reason why my work appeals to younger readers is because of the imagination and adventurous spirit in it. If you want to engage in literature like mine, you can't do without these two abilities, but it is frustrating that there are not many Chinese young people who value spiritual pursuits. Maybe a little more in twenty years?
I don't care what my works mean to the Chinese literary scene, they mean to me. Today's literary world is almost like a gangster group, but not many people dare to say that the quality of Rean Xue's short stories has declined. There are very few writers like me who keep the quality of their work from degrading. I'm not worried about sales because there haven't been sales until now.
Many writers mingle in the literary world, hugging with the so-called critics to deceive readers. Because most readers are not mature enough to tell the difference between good and bad works. Today's era is a golden age for writers to "mix". In order to cover up the exhaustion of his talent, he called "mixing" "transformation".
Philosophy and my literature are two sides of the same coin. Actually, I've been writing philosophy for a long time. Some of my literary reviews and many of my novels are philosophical, but no critic can see it. China's literary soil is barren and cannot produce real critics. Since the 80s, our better literary works have been due to the absorption of foreign literature.
The current environment is really bad for experimental literature. Young authors are not supported. The state allocates 200 million yuan every year, all of which are given to the people they like. Moreover, it seems to have become a routine in the literary world to repay the peach. Have power in your hands. Young people who want to engage in creative literature are left to fend for themselves. This is a kind of alternative corruption. I can only write a few articles calling for it, and every time it is deleted. I was the most excluded.
The inferiority complex of contemporary Chinese writers
I'm often asked what I think of the current state of contemporary literature.
I believe that the hope of contemporary literature is in sync with the degree to which we accept Western culture and learn from Western classics. There's no denying that in the 80s and 90s, everyone wrote something good. But looking at it today, that kind of "good" is very limited, and both emotional and cultural accumulation are very thin. The cultural accumulation I am talking about here is not the accumulation of the book bag, but whether that culture has penetrated into the depths of your subconscious; When I say emotional accumulation, I don't mean "experiencing life" or anything like that, but whether or not you are aware of the chaotic, instinctive things inside you, and how much you are aware of. So I think our works at that time, including one or two of my own early works, were all flawed. Because we lack the consciousness to create. And this kind of consciousness is a blank in our traditional Chinese literature. Chinese literature has always been flat in its portrayal of human nature, unlayered and naïve. Therefore, if literature as literature itself is to stand, it must learn from the West.
In the 80s and 90s, we opened our eyes and learned a lot of good things from the West, which we applied to our creations, which led to an unprecedented development of literature. But from that time on, we degraded step by step and never moved forward. I think that's natural as well. Because it has been weak for a long time, the kind of intake at that time was also shallow, and our literary world has neither the strength nor the courage to truly accept foreign things, let alone turn them into their own nutrition. Everyone has seen how it turned out. After the writer has written two or three things, he is empty, Jiang Lang is exhausted, and there are many people who change careers and use inferior products to deceive readers.
The reason why it has reached this point is that the vast majority of writers do not sincerely learn from others in the first place, and just want to get some skills from others, and only when they make things at home can they be sure. It can be said that he is weak and opportunistic. Learning Western classics is a terrible thing, and you have to dissect yourself every day, who can stand it? I took the wrong medicine to do such a thing. Therefore, more than 95 percent of Chinese writers are willing to take traditional Chinese culture as the "foundation" in their writing, and they are both incomprehensible and afraid of Western methods. After all, what is this not inferiority?
"Inheritance" is poisoning literature
Many people think that my novels and ideas are too Westernized and not in line with China's national conditions, and it is said that this is the main reason why I have lost a large number of readers. Personally, I think my work has been released quite well in China, and it has exceeded my expectations. There are remnant snow fans in both youth and middle-aged. I'm not popular entertainment literature, so why do I have to have so many readers? In addition, I would like to say that for an ancient country like ours, it will be extremely difficult to break the inertia, and I have been prepared for this for a long time, so I am not frustrated at all. Now when we talk about tradition, the main theme of our literary world is inheritance, and only then can we develop and develop only if we inherit it. What kind of logic is this. I have already refuted it, but let me talk about the current situation and the poisoning of our literature by this so-called "inheritance".
One of the most obvious examples of this is Wang Meng. In the midst of the reform of the early '80s, he was the most talented writer of his generation, and he even embraced Western culture with open arms (and limited, of course). At that time, he wrote a series of relatively good and somewhat critical works.
However, the performance of this veteran writer in the new century is really disappointing, not only has he greatly regressed in his creation, but he has also thrown out his old and harmonious traditional philosophy to poison the youth. His "Lao Wang Philosophy" is the traditional way of being a person and an official, and he doesn't know how complacent he is. But where do you see a little bit of modernity in that? There is neither the slightest inner struggle, nor ideological contradictions, let alone in-depth self-dissection. His kind of philosophy, put hundreds of years ago, was also the best philosophy of life, the knowledge of officials. It gives the impression of being a paradise. It's a pity that not everyone has the same conditions as him to maintain that daydream mentality.
Another example is Ah Cheng. At the beginning, I wrote one or two good novels, and Jiang Lang did it immediately. This is because he is deeply immersed in tradition and cannot reach a higher level, and the current society no longer has the basis of ancient literature. The result is very embarrassing, and when it comes to "Everywhere and Everywhere", it is simply forced to write and pile up words. So I had to give up and never write novels again. It is really sad that these people are still obsessed with poisoning themselves, and they also teach others to get rid of Western influences, deny the universality of literature, and treat regional culture as literature. Most of the Chinese literati are as narrow as him, and many people do not admit that there is any literature that transcends national boundaries and races, nor do they admit that there are any common literary standards, because our ancestors never knew such things. Besides, it's post-modern now, and it's normal to have no standards! Indeed, this kind of literary nihilism coincides with some postmodern ideas.
Overseas, some Chinese writers and sinologists like to sell local products, believing that the more earthy they are, the more authentic they are, and the more foreigners like to read them. This strategy may have a little effect, but it is ultimately untenable, and it has little to do with literature. It is common sense that the more common and general things in a work, the greater the literary value. Because the commonality is determined by the depth of the work. Works that are purely supported by regional legends and bizarre customs will not have readers for long – both at home and abroad.
The general trend in the current literary world is a regression. The vast majority of writers look to Chinese culture for writing resources, and the more traditional the better, and some even claim that storytelling is the primary condition for measuring the quality of a work.
I think that returning is probably the only way out for most Chinese writers. Because there was no sincerity in learning from the West at the beginning, it was just a desire to "learn" a little skill from others. After learning the skills, it is still the most convenient and emotional thing to do the quintessence of the country. Traditional culture is a hotbed. But in this hotbed, there is a growing lack of nutrients, so some of the works that grow in it have become miserable. No matter how much our writers try to cover this up, it is an indisputable fact that the tendency of works to become increasingly pale, to deceive the reader, and to be haphazardly pieced together is an indisputable fact. The most fatal feature is the flatness of writing, there is no spiritual realm, and I don't know why the author writes that kind of thing. The main reason for the development of contemporary literature is that there is no spiritual core in our traditional culture, and the vast majority of writers parasitize on this culture and absorb nutrients from the increasingly shriveled body, and the results can be imagined.
Criticism of tradition with exotic weapons
I advocate learning from Western traditions, it's not that I don't have Chinese traditions, I do, and they are very deep. If I want to criticize my traditions, I must use exotic weapons, and only then will it be effective. In the process of criticizing myself, I promote a new life for myself, and what is born is no longer tradition, but it will inevitably be the development of tradition.
In my opinion, the only way to develop tradition is to adopt this method, otherwise it is a fool's dream, which will not reach the height of traditional classics, nor will there be any prospects for development. If our critics had not been so unconscionable nonsense, they would have pointed out long ago that the level of literature had fallen to the point of not being present.
I would also like to cite Ge Fei's "Peach Blossom with a Human Face" as an example. I think "Peach Blossom with a Human Face" is Ge Fei's worst work, and I really don't understand why he wrote such a thing, and he wrote it for ten years (judging from the work, it is obvious that there is no impulse). I've read a few of his early short stories, where there is enthusiasm, impulsiveness, contradiction and confusion, and his feelings are good. But what's in "Peach Blossom with a Human Face"? I only saw a middle-aged man who was aging prematurely, using his limited historical perception to reluctantly piece together the so-called "Chinese story". Probably the vast majority of critics will not ask why, and literary workers who have been cultivated with Chinese culture will not have this habit. Therefore, I think the criticism of this work by Xie Youshun and others is pseudo-criticism. They don't write such criticisms without any real impulse, only a sense of self-justification. "Peach Blossom with a Human Face" is not only a heaven and an earth compared with Ge Fei's early works, but also compared with his long "Banner of Desire", the original talent is completely invisible. Although "The Banner of Desire" has traces of conceptualization and artificiality, after all, he was still impulsive at that time, and there are many passages that are better. But now it is such an article with obvious traces of fabrication, which has been unanimously applauded by so many experts, which makes people deeply feel the suffocation and darkness of the literary world. "Peach Blossom with a Human Face" and its subsequent awards are a burlesque in the Chinese literary world.
Because I have published more books abroad, many people in the literary circle have commented that I am catering to Westerners, and my experiences are not Chinese experiences, at least not original. If you want to cater to Westerners, selling local products is to cater to the tastes of Westerners, right? I am on the same starting line as my foreign counterparts, what is there to cater to? They all admit that my writing is difficult. I don't engage in the original flavor of the so-called culture, I only engage in my own personal authenticity, and my things will never be imitated, and that is enough. It's not that my works can't be sold at home, so I go abroad to "cater" to Western readers. I am deeply grateful to my young readers, who have grown up very fast in recent years, and are not at all inferior to foreign readers, or even surpassing them. That's how I felt from last year to this year.
Pure literature does not have to be based on Chinese culture
As for the promotion of Chinese culture in literature, my opinion is that it is probably okay as popular entertainment literature. But as pure literature, this is not feasible. As mentioned earlier, classical Chinese literature is a flat literature, and this kind of literature cannot produce spirit. As a humanistic literature, as a hierarchical spiritual product, this source is still in Europe. Our literary circles read Western classics in a superficial and sloppy manner, and claim to have "played" all the Western ones without getting them all figured out. I think that, on the one hand, it's the feeling (Chinese culture is very deformed in this aspect) is bad, and on the other hand, it's the inferiority complex. Because of the diaphragm, we don't understand others, so we don't go to in-depth research, so we go back, saying that only our own things are the best, and where can other people's things compare to our own home. 5,000 years of civilization is the real profound! Now our writers also pay lip service to the phrase "Western standards", as if they can write good works by claiming to be patriotic.
I oppose the creation of pure literature based on traditional Chinese culture, and many people say that the literature I produce will be literature without roots. The general theory is that literature cannot develop greatly without its local roots, and it is untenable abroad. I would like to share my views here. Actually, I want to engage in this kind of so-called "rootless" literature. I believe that it is only by cutting off the poisonous roots of certain traditions that it is possible for our literature to be free. My roots are deeper than theirs. Culture, region, and even politics are all superficial things, and one day Chinese writers will be able to shake off their shackles, and hope will come. When I study Western cultural traditions, I don't study those superficial things, but I learn about the common spirit of human beings, and learn the core of humanity in that culture. After I learned their methods, I applied them to my creative practice, diving headlong into the deep ocean of human nature of the subconscious, and unleashing my creativity from that place. Therefore, I believe that this kind of literature of mine is the most tenable and can stand the test of history. My friends and I have engaged in this kind of literature that China has not had since ancient times, and I think that only we are the new literature of the future. In the late '80s and '90s, some writers tried to do the same, but they were too heavy and not bold enough to return to tradition.
The trend towards returning to tradition is even more pronounced among young best-selling authors, who have seen the slightest hint of modernity in almost all of their bestsellers. Even imitation of works such as foreign animation is a traditional model. Except for a few writers, as well as some thoughtful youths among the people, the rising stars on the scene are almost all lazy to the extreme. Although they are parasitic on traditional culture, it is just inertia, and they don't even bother to delve into tradition. From the current point of view, it can be said that it is a blank generation, a parasitic generation. It's not a shame for me, and I just want to draw attention to the truth. In short, the prospects for Chinese literature, which has a very thin foundation, are very bleak.
As for me personally, I'm going to do it like this, and I'm sure I'll get it to the end. I hope that more colleagues will engage in the "experimental literature" I am engaged in, break the closed state of contemporary literature, create an international impact, and compete on the same starting line with foreign counterparts. Literature, although extremely personal, is also contestable. than passion, more than strength, more than depth, than a sense of form, than bravery...... Of course, the premise of the competition is to admit that literature has a common standard, that human nature can be interconnected, and that works can resonate.